Ladder leg equalizers



Dec. 3, 1968 w. GILLAND LADDER LEG EQUALIZERS Filed April 27, 1967INVENI'OR Willard Gillund zzwzw United States Patent ice 3,414,082LADDER LEG EQUALIZERS Willard L. Gilland, 2487 Driftwood Drive,

Bethel Park, Pa. 15102 Filed Apr. 27, 1967, Ser. No. 634,175 2 Claims.(Cl. 182204) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ladder leg equalizer for metalladders rotatable about the end of a ladder leg and extensible generallyparallel to the vertical surface against which the opposite end of theleg of the ladder is placed.

This invention relates to ladder leg equalizers and particularly toequalizers for metal ladder legs rotatable about the end of the leg andextensible generally parallel to the vertical surface against which theopposite end of the ladder leg is placed.

The problem of providing an extension for the leg of a ladder to permitits being used on a sloping surface is one that has faced the art formanyyears and to which a vast number of solutions has been proposed.Typical of these proposed solutions are those exemplified in PatentsNos. 224,462, 257,411, 279,545, 666,948, 742,288, 891,965, 1,346,831,2,213,471, 2,306,797, 2,318,017, 2,914,135, 2,936,849. All of thesepatents provide an extension for a ladder leg which moves in a straightline and forms a straight line extension thereof. Such extensions arenot satisfactory for a variety of reasons. First, such an extensionthrows a tremendous twisting beam load at The weakest point of theextension, its connection with the main ladder leg. Second, on a slopinghill side, the extension may never touch the hill side in any reasonabledistance and finally such leg extensions tend to be unstable. There havebeen attempts to provide extensions which take an angular position withrespect to a ladder leg for special purposes, e.g., to fit on theconfining space of a stair well. Such patents are exemplified by Nos.1,462,505 and 3,032,140. These patents are held in frictional engagementon the outside of a wooden ladder leg by a pair of spaced clamps offixed spacing which limits the angular movement within the clamps to avery small angle.

I have invented a ladder leg extension which overcomes the problem ofprior art leg extensions. The extension of my invention is usable on anyslope, is free of bending or twisting beam movement and isfvery stableand firm under load.

In a preferred embodiment of my invention, I provide a ladder levelcomprising an elongated mounting member adapted for pivotal attachmentat one end to the bottom end of a ladder side rail, means at the otherend of said member engaging the side rail at points on an are spacedfrom said pivotal attachment whereby the mounting member may beselectively positioned at an angle to the line of the side rail, anelongated extension member telescopingly engaging said mounting memberand latch means between said extension member and mounting memberengaging and holding said extension member at selected relativepositions. Preferably, the extension member is provided with evenlyspaced holes along its length and the mounting member is provided withat least one hole cooperatively receiving a latch pin or bolt to holdthe extension member and mounting member in position.

In the foregoing general description, I have set out certain objects,purposes and advantages of my invention. Other objects, purposes andadvantages of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription and the accompanying drawings in which:

3,414,082 Patented Dec. 3, 1968 FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of aladder equipped with the ladder equalizer of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation viewed from the left of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III-III of FIG- URE 1.

Referring to the drawings, I have illustrated a standard aluminum ladderhaving side rails 10 and rungs 11. The side rails 10 are of channelconfiguration and formed of extruded metal sections.

The ladder equalizer includes a channel mounting member 12 havinginturned flanges 12a. The channel member 12 is provided with a hole 13at one end mounted on a pivot bolt 14 which passes through a hole 15 inthe lower end of side rail 10. The mounting member is pivoted on thisbolt. A second hole 16 is provided at the opposite end of mountingmember 12 and adapted to be aligned with one of holes 17 spaced apart onan are about hole -15 and whose radius is the distance between holes 13and 16. A bolt 18a is passed through hole 16 and the selected hole 17 toprovide the necessary angle on mounting member 12 so that it liesgenerally parallel to the wall 20 against which the ladder rails areplaced.

Retaining members 18 are provided at each end of the mounting member 12to form a box closure. Each retaining member is provided with a hole 19.

An extension member 21 of channel configuration is slidably received inmounting member 12 beneath retaining members 18 so as to telescopetherein. The extension member is provided with a line of spaced openings22 which align with holes 19 in retaining members 18. Bolts 23 or otherlatch means are removably placed in holes 22 and 19 to hold theextension member in selected position in the mounting member. A stop tab26 is formed on the outer surface of member 21 to prevent its removalfrom channel 12.

A safety foot 24 may be pivotally mounted on the bottom end of extensionmember 21 and provided with a rubber or other friction pad 25.

The extension is used in the following manner:

The top end of ladder rails 10 are placed against the wall 20 so thatthe bottom end is preferably about one foot out for each four feet ofheight. The mounting member 12 is pivoted on pivot bolt 14 to a positiongenerally parallel to wall 20 and aligned with one of holes 17 and bolt18a is placed in position. Extension member 21 is then moved in mountingmember 12 until the safety foot 24 engages the surface of the support30. Latch bolts 23 are fixed in holes 22 and 19 of the extension memberand retaining members respectively and the ladder is ready for use.

It will be seen from the foregoing description and the drawings that theload on the ladder base is applied directly downwardly onto the lengthof the extension member and not in the form of a beam so that flexing ofthe member is eliminated and a stable, solid base is provided.

While I have illustrated and described a presently preferred embodimentof my invention in the foregoing specification, it will be understoodthat this invention may be otherwise embodied within the scope of thefol lowing claims.

I claim:

1. A ladder leveling apparatus adapted to be mounted to the side rail ofa ladder comprising an elongated partially closed channel mountingmember pivotally attached at one end to the bottom end of a side rail,means at the other end of said member engaging the side rail at spacedpoints on an are spaced from said pivotal attachment whereby themounting member may be selectively positioned at an angle to the line ofthe side rail, an

elongated extension member telescopingly engaging said mounting memberand latch means between said extension member and mounting memberengaging and holding said extension member at selected relativepositions.

2. A ladder leveling apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein theextension member is provided with a line of spaced holes adapted to bealigned with at least one hole in the mounting member and bolt meanspassing through said holes to maintain the two members in selectedrelative position.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Bachman 182-204 Drummond 182204Meier 182111 Anderson 182-204 Larson 182-204 REINALDO P. MACHADO,Primary Examiner.

